Blackberry Cashew Cream

I stumbled upon this a few months ago when a neighbour gave me some tasty (but really ugly looking ) strawberries. I’ve had a cashew cream in a raw vegan restaurant which was just brilliant, so I put two and two together and voila. Healthy, but really tastes creamy and indulgent, Since then I have tried various fruits with blackberries being my favourite, especially at the moment, as it’s perfect time for foraging them. Got to love free food.

Ingredients

Cashews, around a cup full and preferably not salted!

Blackberries or other juicy fruit

Agave nectar or other sweetener like maple syrup (not always necessary, depends on how sweet the fruit is.

Fresh mint (optional, but adds a nice fresh flavour)

Construction: It really depends on how much you want of the cream and how quickly you will use it. I use roughly a small bowl of blackberries and mush them down with a hand blender until it becomes a purée. I then add in a cup full of cashew nuts and some sprigs of mint and blend until it becomes like a chunky cream. It will never be super smooth, not with my blender anyway, but I like the chunky, nutty texture. If you want the cream super creamy, soak the cashews first in some water for around half an hour to a few hours or ideally overnight. They will blend easier and soaking seems to enhance the creamy texture. If you can resist eating half of it before finished, then put in a sealed jar in the fridge and it will last all week. I use it on top of muesli and cereals for breakfast, or with yoghurt and berries for a healthy dessert. Strawberries and raspberries work well too. I have also made a mango cream and added in a couple of spoonfuls of coconut. All are equally tasty, although the mango seemed to go off a bit quicker and lose it’s flavour quicker than the berries and too be honest I love the intense mauve colour of the blackberry cream,